The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has adopted a comprehensive program to reduce emissions from future off-highway work vehicles. The engines of such off-highway work vehicles are being modified to satisfy the EPA's emissions regulations. However, these modified engines have been shown to impact vehicle performance, such as by exhibiting slower transient response times compared to current engines. In the case of a backhoe loader having a rear-mounted bucket and a front-mounted bucket, for example, the modified engine may be slow to respond to an operator's request for additional hydraulic power to lift the buckets.